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Indybay Feature
Sustainable Palm Oil Certification: Principles And Criteria In Crisis
Merging the Palm Oil Plantation development index on human rights abuses and the global oil and gas development index on human rights abuses One country takes the lead, Malaysia. (Other countries that produce palm oil and oil or natural gas for export include Indonesia, Liberia, Brazil, Venezuela). Land grabs for plantations are common place, and in some instances can be reversed. Global peasant and indigenous communities are rising up against corporate greed. The affluent health and cosmetic marketplace needs to support Fair Trade and Organic labels for Palm Oil.
Sustainable Palm Oil Certification: Principles And Criteria In Crisis
Did anyone really believe the 'Forest Heroes' campaign and the RSPO when they congratulated the world in October 2014? "Seventy-five percent of all palm oil will be produced responsibly, and it means that 75 percent of all the palm oil produced will be grown without cutting down rainforests.”
In a great article in the spring of 2014, the Huffington Post blasted the Zero-deforestation certification requirements established between industry and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The criteria state specifically that RSPO members must be "in compliance with all local and national laws." In the case of Indonesian policies, plantations would have to remove forests in order to comply with local laws!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-hii/breaking-the-law-in-indonesia_b_5240008.html
Six months later, in October, Forest Heroes and Palm Oil Industry leader IOI Loders Croklaan (Malaysia) shared celebratory press releases; “Congratulations to Forest Heroes, and IOI, and to the entire world! All the palm-oil companies who have signed on to the new responsibility commitments IOI, Wilmar International, Golden Agri-Resources, Cargill, and Bunge deserve a thumbs up.”
http://grist.org/food/palm-oil-giant-makes-big-commitment-rainforests-rejoice/
“Over three quarters of global palm oil now covered by deforestation-free sourcing policies.”
First off, who are the 'Forest Heroes'? Was someone misled?
It began as a program during the UN International Year of The Forests in 2011. The first two 'Forest Heroes' were two girls scouts. “Since age 11, Madison and Rhiannon have been raising awareness on endangered orangutans and their rapidly diminishing rainforest habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia. Now in their teens, the girls have expanded their work, launching multiple campaigns to ensure Girl Scout Cookies are made from sustainable resources. Their work prompted Girl Scouts USA to commit to improving sustainability of their cookies and boosted efforts to reduce deforestation for palm oil.” Their full story, an amazing one at that, can be found here:
http://www.un.org/en/events/iyof2011/forests-for-people/awards-and-contests/award-winners/
Two years year later, the private, professional, consulting organization Catapult (a consulting organization that “works for progress on the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges, through high-impact communications, advocacy, field organizing and political campaigning”) began it's program 'Forest Heroes' with a reasonable assessment of the Certification of Sustainable Palm Oil under the RSPO titled "The Death of Sustainability".
http://www.forestheroes.org/the_death_of_sustainability
Under Catapult, Forest Heroes was a campaign, not a group.
http://www.catapultaction.com/blog/
In June 2014, they began a highly visible campaign against Dunkin Brands - Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Creme, and others drawing attention to Palm Oil and deforestation donuts. In October, they announced “Congratulations to Forest Heroes, and IOI, and to the entire world! All the palm-oil companies who have signed on to the new responsibility commitments IOI, Wilmar International, Golden Agri-Resources, Cargill, and Bunge deserve a thumbs up.”
See the recent PR "How a small band of activists saved tropical forests by turning around Big Doughnut" Published Feb 4, 2015
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060012804
Commodity certification standards 'Responsible' and 'Sustainable' undermine organic, fair-trade, and local food systems. “Imagine an international mega-deal. The global organic food industry agrees to support international agribusiness in clearing as much tropical rainforest as they want for farming. In return, agribusiness agrees to farm the now-deforested land using organic methods, and the organic industry encourages its supporters to buy the resulting timber and food under the newly devised 'Rainforest Plus' label.”
Way Beyond Greenwashing - Have Corporations Captured “Big Conservation”?
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2012/0312latham.html
“The conservation nonprofits justify market transformation as cooperative; they wish to work with others, not against them. However, they have chosen to work preferentially with powerful and wealthy corporations. Why not cooperate instead with small farmers’ movements, indigenous groups, and already successful standards, such as fair-trade, organic and non-GMO?”
A Sampling Of Standards:
Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS); Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RTSB); Sugar (Bonsucro)
“The context of these schemes is that we live at an historic moment. Positive alternatives to industrial agriculture, such as fair trade, organic agriculture, agroecology, and the System of Rice Intensification, have shown they can feed the planet, without destroying it, even with a greater population. Consequently, there is now a substantial international consensus of informed opinion that industrial agriculture is a principal cause of the current environmental crisis and the chief obstacle to hunger eradication.”
“Who are the individuals guarding the mission of global conservation nonprofits? U.S.-WWF new vice-chair was the last CEO of Coca-Cola, Inc. (a member of Bonsucro) and that another board member is Charles O. Holliday Jr., the current chairman of the board of Bank of America, who was formerly CEO of DuPont (owner of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a major player in the GMO industry). The current chair of the executive board at Conservation International is Robert Walton, better known as chair of the board of WalMart (which now sells “sustainably sourced” food and owns the supermarket chain ASDA). On the board of Conservation International, for example, are GAP, Intel, Northrop Grumman, JP Morgan, Starbucks, and UPS, among others.”
“The RTRS standard will not protect the forests and other sensitive ecosystems. Additionally, it greenwashes soy that’s genetically modified to survive being sprayed with quantities of herbicide that endanger human health and the environment.” There is even a website dedicated to exposing the greenwashing of GMO soy.”
http://www.toxicsoy.org/
“The Nature Conservancy’s board of directors has only two members (out of 22) who list an active affiliation to a conservation organization in their board CV (Prof. Gretchen Daly and Cristian Samper, head of the U.S. Museum of Natural History). Only one other member even mentions among his qualifications an interest in the subject of conservation. The remaining members are like Shona Brown, who is an employee of Google and a board member of Pepsico, or Meg Whitman, the current president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, or Muneer A. Satter, a managing director of Goldman Sachs.”
“The only good news in this story is that it contradicts fundamentally the defeatist arguments of the WWF. Old-fashioned activist strategies, of shaming bad practice, boycotting products, and encouraging alternatives, do work. The market opportunity presently being exploited by WWF and company resulted from the success of these strategies, not their failure. Multinational corporations, we should conclude, really do fear activists, non-profits, informed consumers, and small producers all working together.” From: “Way Beyond Greenwashing - Have Corporations Captured Big Conservation?” By Jonathan Latham
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2012/03/05/way-beyond-greenwashing-have-corporations-captured-big-conservation
Original Article by Jonathan Latham, is 7 pages. , with a half page of extensive footnotes. Jonathan R. Latham, PhD, is co-founder and executive director of the Bioscience Resource Project, which is the publisher of Independent Science News. He has published scientific papers in disciplines as diverse as plant ecology, virology, and genetics. Visit http://www.independentsciencenews.org/
Palm Oil Crisis In Certification Criteria
Even the Union Of Concerned Scientists bases all non-deforestation 'sustainable criteria' for Palm Oil on the RSPO criteria. Which brings us to a certification requirement from the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) where its criteria state for it's members "There is compliance with all applicable local, national and ratified international laws and regulations” (Criterion 2.1). “Principles and Criteria for the Production of Sustainable Palm Oil 2013”
http://www.rspo.org/file/PnC_RSPO_Rev1.pdf
The link states Rev1 but the document is Rev2
(Criterion 2.1) There is compliance with all applicable local, national and ratified international laws and regulations.
Implementing all legal requirements is an essential baseline requirement for all growers whatever their location or size. Relevant legislation includes, but is not limited to: regulations governing land tenure and land-use rights, labour, agricultural practices (e.g. chemical use), environment (e.g. wildlife laws, pollution, environmental management and forestry laws), storage, transportation and processing practices. It also includes laws made pursuant to a country’s obligations under international laws or conventions (e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), ILO core Conventions, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights). Furthermore, where countries have provisions to respect customary law, these will be taken into account. Key international laws and conventions are set out in Annex 1.
(Criterion 2.2) The right to use the land is demonstrated, and is not legitimately contested by local people who can demonstrate that they have legal, customary or user rights.
(Criterion 2.3) Use of the land for oil palm does not diminish the legal, customary or user rights of other users without their free, prior and informed consent. (Known as FPIC, the reality on the ground falls far short of the stated intention.)
Annex 1 can be found on p. 64 of the 71 page document: “Principles and Criteria for the Production of Sustainable Palm Oil 2013”
Indigenous land uses and rights are acknowledged in different countries under different conditions of tenure and recorded history. Few countries acknowledge legal descriptions for access by indigenous cultures to heritage lands. Even fewer have GPS coordinates defining legal boundaries of indigenous community-use lands. Terms like 'Conflict-free' are ill defined given the context of corruption, shifting land use designations, and occupation in the recent expansionist history of Palm Oil Plantations.
Terms like 'deforestation-free', and 'protect natural forests from conversion' have several possible definitions, and potential impacts per country and location. No 'Plantation expansion' or 'new plantation development' also have at least two meanings in both Indonesia and Malaysia, the number one and two countries of production for Palm Oil (CPO, Crude Palm Oil). The legal definition can be used to expand a current legal concession into idle land and undeveloped forest landscapes in Indonesia, and the new “smallholder' and 'Plasma' designations, expand the plantation by an additional 20 per cent outside the 'plantation boundaries' for smallholders for the purposes of planting with palm oil (National Law).
Malaysia, though a member of the UN, has not signed onto any Human Rights accords, and in fact, has rejected any UN Indigenous Rights proposal regarding palm plantations, the latest in March 2014 (International Law). And thus, the key phrasing of the certification criteria states “applicable or relevant National and International laws”.
Notably, the UCS advances as it's similarly amenable 'certification criteria', that:
Companies must commit to a palm oil sourcing policy for all of their global operations that ensures 100 percent of their palm oil purchases:
• Are deforestation-free and protect all natural forests (including primary forests, secondary forests, High Conservation Value forests, and High Carbon Stock forests) from conversion due to plantation expansion or new plantation development
• Originate from growers that protect peatlands of any depth from new plantation development
• Originate from growers using best management practices (for example, those prescribed by the RSPO) for oil palm plantations on existing peat soils
• Originate from growers that comply with all relevant local, national, and international laws
• Originate from growers that track and report on the carbon footprint of their production
• Are conflict-free and protective of the rights of workers and indigenous communities
• Are compliant with existing RSPO Principles and Criteria, or equivalent standards
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/stop-deforestation/palm-oil-scorecard.html#.VOYNVra56X0
Palm Oil Scorecard: Ranking America’s Biggest Brands on Their Commitment to Deforestation-Free Palm Oil (2014) From Union Of Concerned Scientists
Full Report:
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/deforestation-free-palm-oil-scorecard.pdf
Palm Oil And Tropical Deforestation:
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/stop-deforestation/palm-oil-and-forests.html#.VOYqIba56X0
Palm Oil Facts:
http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/palm-oil-and-global-warming.pdf
Palm Oil Scorecard On Human Rights Abuses: Malaysia Ranks Number One
Malaysia – both the Malaysian government and Malaysian Corporations would rank number one globally for human rights abuses and palm oil plantation expansion. And to be clearly transparent: Malaysia is not a developing country.
Malaysia Is Not A Developing Country
For the most part, poor countries are poor because of international debt, and foreign industrial extraction of natural resources. In some cases, the foreign extraction of human resources. The 'poor' will do well to be on their own, and need to be technologically self reliant, as public benefits of natural resource production are drowned in contaminated surface waters, bays, and aquifers, or, are mostly lost in a toxic fog of unknown constituents.
Malaysia is a country that is being developed by national and foreign corporations. Malaysia is the SE Asia hub for oil and gas. It's offshore resources and leased tracts and rig platforms, serve Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia (Borneo). Much of Malaysia's oil and gas industry is located offshore of Sarawak and Sabah (Borneo) also known as East Malaysia.
PIC
See my article on the contested B.C. LNG Pipeline Export terminal
Pacific NorthWest LNG - North American LNG Exports - B.C. Won't Even Get The Jobs
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/12/05/18765078.php
Petronas (Malaysia) will focus in 2015 on selecting the winning bid for a crucial phase called engineering, procurement, construction and commission. Pacific NorthWest LNG received clearance last month from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, but the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is the lead regulator on the file, and the project might be waiting until mid-2015 for federal approval.
Who is Petronas? The Malaysian State-owned oil and gas company, ranked worst according to Management and Excellence (Madrid, Spain) corporate social responsibility indexes. On average, most companies scored highest under "ethics" with an average of 73.3%. Ethics simply means having and promoting a detailed code of conduct and staying out of trouble.
Companies with low scores, such as Gazprom and Petronas, largely failed to communicate or even implement a code of conduct and ethics, although this is among the least expensive ways of gaining points. Top performers such as Chevron, Statoil and Total, implemented codes explaining how employees should deal with difficult cases of bribery and conflicts of interest.
Investments In Development News From Malaysia
40 organizations call on the President of the Asian Development Bank to withdraw a proposed loan to Sarawak Energy for a transmission line.
http://staging.world-wire.com/2014/10/15/asian-development-bank-urged-to-shelve-loan-for-sarawak/
SARAWAK, Malaysia, October 15, 2014 Environmental and human rights groups from Malaysia and internationally are calling on the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to shelve a proposal to loan up to US$45 million for building the “Trans-Borneo Power Grid” (transmission lines) in Sarawak, Malaysia. 40 organizations have issued a letter to the President of the ADB, Mr. Takehiko Nakao, and the bank’s board of directors warning them of the reputational and financial risks associated with the loan.
In the Spring of 2014 Malaysia rejected a suggestion at the United Nations that the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights should be allowed to visit the country and evaluate the treatment of the Orang Ulu.
Malaysia Rejects Indigenous Rights At The UN
Malaysia has rejected a suggestion at the United Nations that the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights should be allowed to visit the country and evaluate the treatment of the Orang Ulu.
This was one of many recommendations which Malaysia has rejected since its Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations in October. The UPR is a process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. It provides an opportunity for all States to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries.
In an appalling response regarding the rights of Malaysia’s indigenous communities, the Malaysian Government has rejected the following recommendations made by the Governments of Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Allow for the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples (Denmark);
Ensure that laws on indigenous peoples as well as their implementation comply with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Switzerland);
Ensure the rights of indigenous peoples and local forest dependent peoples in law and practice, in particular regarding their right to traditional lands, territories and resources (Norway);
Establish an independent National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and ensure that laws, policies and their implementations are in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Sweden);
Establish an independent body to investigate disputes over land, territories and resources (New Zealand);
Take measures, with full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, to address the issues highlighted in the National Enquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Finland).
The Malaysian Government have stated that they will not comply with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples or ensure that Native Customary Rights (NCR) are protected.
Malaysia has rejected Human Rights recommendations by member countries of the UN, of which Malaysia is a member, for 5 years in a row now.
Malaysia, Developing Country Resource Assets
The future of drilling is headed offshore of 'poorer' developing countries to the carbonate resources. Petronas, TotalAlFina, Sinopec, and a couple others, these are conglomerates bigger than the Western oil companies, moving the oil and gas globally with fleets of FLNG Tankers, and distribution pipelines across the seafloor. They are also State owned companies run by governments in places like Malaysia - with horrible environmental and human rights abuses track records. Malaysia and China have partnered with Canadian and US companies on North America and now own drilling rights, and access to mineral rights to huge swaths of unconventional oil and gas development in Canada, the continental United States, and the Gulf Of Mexico.
Carbon Offsets Cannot Clean Up Human Rights Abuses
Going back in time to 1971, Several factors converged to prompt the Malaysian government into setting up a state oil and gas company, as first proposed in its Five Year Plan. These were years in which power in the world oil industry began to shift away from the Western majors, which then controlled more than 90 percent of the oil trade, toward the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as a proliferation of new private and state companies joining in the search for reserves. By 1985, the majors, reduced in number from seven to five, were producing less than 20 percent of the world total.
A whole new group of oil and gas companies have become today's Titans. The "New Seven Sisters" selected recently by the Financial Times (FT) highlights how largely state-owned companies from the emerging world have become key global players in oil and gas. The FT ranked the New Seven Sisters on the basis of resource base, level of output, company's ambition, scale of their domestic market, and influence in the industry. In order of prominence, they are Saudi Aramco, Russia's Gazprom, CNPC of China, NIOC of Iran, Venezuela's PDVSA, Brazil's Petrobras and Petronas of Malaysia.
The New Seven Sisters control about one-third of the world's oil and gas production and reserves. In contrast, remaining descendants of the Western Seven Sisters, ExxonMobil and Chevron of the U.S. and Europe's BP and Royal Dutch Shell, produce only about 10% of the world's oil and gas and hold just 3% of its reserves.
And if anything, the New Seven Sisters are set to grow even more powerful. The International Energy Agency (IEA) calculates that over the next 40 years, 90% of new supplies will come from 'developing' countries.
Beware of Global Climate Funds, Climate Investment Funds, and Investments In Developing Economies And Renewables, and especially Palm Oil Biofuel.
Investments In Developing Economies Renewables, Clean Energy
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/11/07/18763887.php
Friday Nov 7th, 2014
Half A World Away
The Development Of Unconventional Hydrocarbons In The US and Canada - Alberta, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Texas, the (GOM) Gulf of Mexico - by foreign dictatorial regime-owned corporations in 2014 and beyond.
The Last Flag Flying Over The Last Borehole Wins
April 30, 2014 - Malaysia's Petronas Sells Stake In Canada Gas Project To Sinopec
http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/news/breaking-news/malaysias-petronas-sells-stake-in-canada-gas-project-to-sinopec
Petronas, a Malaysian state-owned oil firm plans to build an $11 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on Canada's Pacific Coast partnering with China's Sinopec Group and a Chinese state utility. Petronas said it will sell state-owned Sinopec Group, formally known as China Petrochemical Corp, a 15 percent stake in its Pacific NorthWest LNG export facility, along with a 15 percent stake in the northern British Columbia shale gas assets for feedstock.
“Sinopec is Petronas's fourth partner in the project, which is one of about a dozen LNG terminals proposed for British Columbia's rugged coastline as energy companies scramble to build facilities to export cheap Canadian gas to Asian markets.”
“Petronas, which entered the fray in 2012 with its $4.7 billion takeover of Canada's Progress Energy Resources, has moved quickly past its rivals in LNG. The company has so far secured an export permit and filed its key environmental documents.”
That was in the spring, 2014. By autumn 2014 these regimes and corporations had received a huge tax incentive from the BC government regarding LNG export projects. “Developers led by Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group and Petronas, as the Malaysian state-owned crude producer is known, have pushed for better terms to invest in Canada’s Pacific Coast as they compete with other Asia-focused LNG projects in the U.S., Mozambique and Australia.”
Malaysia's Offshore Oil And Gas
“Infield Systems forecasts that Malaysia will lead the South East Asian region for offshore investment over the 2014-2019 timeframe holding a 36% share of regional Capex. State operator Petronas is expected to bring on-stream a total of 31 fields during the period, with a further 11 fields to be developed through the NOC’s joint ventures with foreign companies. As such, Petronas is also expected to lead investment during these years with a 48% share of the market, whilst Shell, Murphy and ExxonMobil are all expected to direct substantial Capex towards Malaysian assets during the period. Despite being predominantly a shallow water area of development, Infield Systems expects deepwater investment to also increase towards the end of the decade, with 19% of reserve additions during the 2014-2019 period expected to be from water depths of 500 metres or greater.”
“Altogether, Malaysia is expected to hold 44% of the South East Asian region’s reserve additions during the 2014-2019 timeframe with 10.8bn barrels of oil equivalent expected to be brought on-stream. Significant fields forecast to enter production include the development of Petronas’ Sarawak and Kasawari fields, and whilst NOC Petronas is expected to bring on-stream the largest overall volumes of reserves during the period, IOC Shell is expected to lead deepwater development with the Kamunsu East Upthrow/Canyon and the Ubah fields forecast to commence production before the close of 2019.”
http://www.infield.com/advertising-opportunities/offshore-malaysia-oil-gas-activity-map
Subsea Asia 2014 took place at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) in Malaysia and will be Asia's 4th SUBSEA Conference and Exhibition. With a number of major projects currently underway, Malaysia continues to strengthen its position as the region's hub for subsea knowledge and excellence. In its thriving capital city, Kuala Lumpur, many of the world's leading oil companies have already set up their regional bases, creating the natural platform for an international event dedicated to Asia-Pacific's subsea community.
In recent years the importance of oil and gas reserves from deepwater areas has also increased significantly. In the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia is at the forefront of this development with its National Oil Company, PETRONAS, committed to exploring offshore areas, especially deepwater zones that require substantial technical expertise. Subsea UK's Subsea Asia conference and exhibition brings together industry professionals to discuss the region's subsea sector's projects, technologies and markets.
http://www.infield.com/exhibitions/subsea-asia
June 2-4, 2015
Oil and Gas Asia (OGA 2015) is Asia’s largest oil and gas industry event and has been held biannually since 1987. OGA 2015 will offer the chance for all professional members of the oil and gas community to meet for a three day exhibition to discuss opportunities, exchange ideas and network. Oil and Gas Asia 2015 is being held from 2 – 4 June in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia.
http://www.infield.com/exhibitions/oga-oil-gas-asia
According to the Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ), Malaysia held proven oil reserves of 4 billion barrels as of January 2011. Nearly all of Malaysia's oil comes from offshore fields. The continental shelf is divided into 3 producing basins: the Malay basin offshore peninsular Malaysia in the west and the Sarawak and Sabah basins in the east.
The government is focused on opening up new investment opportunities by enhancing output from existing fields and developing new fields in deepwater areas offshore Sarawak and Sabah.
“ExxonMobil's has an enhanced oil recovery project at the Tapis field, which lies 118 miles off Terengganu in 210 feet of water. Tapis is one of 7 mature fields offshore peninsular Malaysia that ExxonMobil and Petronas have agreed to develop as part of a 25-year production-sharing contract that was finalized in June 2010. Under the agreement, which includes provisions for the deployment of enhanced oil recovery and further drilling to boost output, work is being carried out on all 7 fields - Seligi, Guntong, Tapis, Semangkok, Irong Barat, Tebu, and Palas - with an estimated gross investment of more than $1 billion.”
“The Commercial Arrangement Area (CAA) in the Malay Basin, which Malaysia shares with Vietnam, also contributes to the country's oil production, and the 20-year dispute between Malaysia and Brunei over land and sea boundaries was resolved when the two countries signed a boundary agreement in April 2009.”
New Deepwater Oil Production Projects Under Development Are All Offshore Sabah/Borneo
“The Kikeh oil field is currently Malaysia's only producing deepwater oil field. Kikeh is offshore Sabah in 4,400 feet of water. Offshore Sabah in 3,900 feet of water, the Gumusat/Kakap project will include the region's first deepwater floating production system from 19 subsea wells. Shareholders are Shell, the operator, at 33 percent; ConocoPhillips at 33 percent; Petronas at 20 percent; and Murphy Oil at 14 percent. The system is connected via pipelines to the new Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal in Kimanis.”
“Development is also underway at the Kebabangan Northern Hub development project (KBB), about 87 miles northeast of Kimanis which will be the hub for the development of deepwater oil and gas assets offshore Sabah.”
“The Malikai oil and gas field is located nearby and will be tied into the KBB via liquids and dry gas pipelines shortly after first gas comes from KBB. It will supply the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal. The field was discovered in 2004 at 1,854 feet depth and field development began in 2009. Malakai is expected to come online by 2014, with production capacity of 60,000 bbl/d. Shell is the operator, with 35 percent interest; in partnership with ConocoPhillips, at 35 percent; and Petronas, with 30 percent.”
Malaysia has a relatively limited oil pipeline network because of its island geography, which has increased the importance of tankers for transportation and trucks for distribution of products onshore. Malaysia's main oil pipelines connect oil fields offshore Peninsular Malaysia to onshore storage and terminal facilities. “From the Tapis oil field runs the 124-mile Tapis pipeline, which terminates at the Kerteh plant in Terengganu, as does the 145-mile Jerneh condensate pipeline. The oil pipeline network for Sabah connects offshore oil fields with the onshore Labuan oil terminal. This network is currently expanding following the launch of development projects including the Kebabangan cluster, the Malikai, Gemusat/Kekap, and Kikeh oil fields. For Sarawak, there are a few other oil pipelines connecting offshore fields with the onshore Bintulu terminal. The majority of pipelines are operated by Petronas, although ExxonMobil also operates a number of pipelines connected with its significant upstream holdings located offshore Peninsular Malaysia.”
“The Tapis blend is Malaysia's major exported crude oil because its high quality and low sulfur content commands premium prices.”
Malaysia Has One Of The Most Extensive Natural Gas Pipeline Networks In Asia
The Peninsular Gas Utilization (PGU) project, completed in 1998, expanded the natural gas transmission infrastructure on Peninsular Malaysia. The PGU system spans more than 880 miles and has the capacity to transport 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas. Other gas pipelines run from offshore gas fields to gas processing facilities at Kertih.”
“A number of pipelines link Sarawak's offshore gas fields to the Bintulu facility. Petronas is building the 310-mile Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline to transport gas from Sabah's offshore fields to Bintulu for liquefaction and export. Some of the gas will be used for downstream projects in Sabah. This pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. Other pipelines link the gas fields offshore Sabah to Labuan Gas Terminal.”
“The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is promoting the development of a trans-ASEAN gas pipeline system (TACP) aimed at linking ASEAN's major gas production and consumption centers by 2020. Because of Malaysia's extensive natural gas infrastructure and its location, the country is a natural candidate to serve as a hub in the ongoing TACP project. The first pipeline connected Malaysia with Singapore and was commissioned in 1991. This was followed by gas pipeline links between West Natuna, Indonesia and Duyong, Malaysia, commissioned in 2002, and the Trans-Thailand-Malaysia gas pipeline, commissioned in 2005, which allows Malaysia to pipe natural gas from the Malaysia-Thailand JDA to its domestic pipeline system.”
“Malaysia was the third largest exporter of LNG in the world after Qatar and Indonesia in 2010, exporting over 1 Tcf of LNG, which accounted for 10 percent of total world LNG exports. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China have supply contracts with Malaysia, and are the largest purchasers. LNG is primarily transported by Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC), which owns and operates 27 LNG tankers, the single largest LNG tanker fleet in the world by volume of LNG carried. MISC is 62-percent owned by Petronas.”
“The Bintulu LNG complex on Sarawak is the main hub for Malaysia's natural gas industry. Petronas owns majority interests in Bintulu's three LNG processing plants, which are supplied by offshore natural gas fields. The Bintulu facility is the largest LNG complex in the world, with 8 production trains and a total liquefaction capacity of 1.7 Tcf per year.”
“In the news from Singapore, with a final investment off shore in April 2014; Murphy, Petronas got the action for a Malaysia FLNG project 2018.”
“A final investment decision for the floating LNG liquefaction project at the Rotan field in Malaysia has been reached, and it is on track to achieving first gas by 2018, US company Murphy Oil, headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas said Thursday during a presentation to discuss its 2013 financial results.”
“Murphy operates Block H offshore Sabah, where the gas will be sourced, while Malaysia's state-owned Petronas will operate the 1.5 million mt/year FLNG facility. This will be Petronas' second FLNG plant in Malaysia, after it reached an FID in 2012 on a 1.2 million mt/year plant at the Kanowit field offshore Sarawak.”
“Once onstream, the two FLNG plants will take Malaysia's total LNG production to 28.9 million mt/year, Arif Mahmood, Petronas' vice-president for corporate and strategic planning, had said in June 2013. The LNG produced from the FLNG plants could be sold in the domestic market or overseas.”
According To RIGZONE;
Sept 30, 2014 (Reuters) - “U.S. oil company Murphy Oil Corp said it would sell 30 percent of its oil and gas assets in Malaysia for $2 billion in cash to Indonesian state-oil company Pertamina as it cuts overseas holdings to focus on an improving home market.”
“The transaction is subject to the approval of Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas company, Petronas, Murphy Oil said in a statement. "This transaction allows us to re-deploy the proceeds through ... initiatives such as increased drilling capital in the Eagle Ford Shale, acquisition opportunities, debt reduction and share repurchases," Chief Executive Roger Jenkins said in a statement.”
SO, WE SEE, WE'RE ALL CONNECTED
But over here in the US, we still have to listen to NPR Politicians tell us that US LNG exports could help countries curb emissions. They have their own game plan. They don't need our natural gas. SE Asia offshore development boasts the largest networks of undersea pipelines, hubs and advanced deepwater technology, fleets of FLNG ships and floating refineries for oil.
Eco-tourism destinations are deemed a green economy, except for the multi-billion dollar investments in shoreline hotels, and the power to run them, to heat them, to heat water and cook extravagant foods, and development projects for infrastructure to support inland resorts and airports and runways, the paved roads, electricity. But Malaysia, like Indonesia has a palm oil biodiesel mandate, and a new global push for land grabs.
The poor remain poor. The indigenous, dispossessed of land. The pace of development has quickened beyond any destruction previously known. It's a global market economy.
Back on Peneninsular Malaysia The Last Rainforest Tree Was Cut
On Penisular Malaysia, in early 2013, the “Last Rainforest Tree” was cut. Well, not THE LAST RAINFOREST TREE, but “Oil palm plantations have extinguished the last habitat of a rainforest tree in Malaysia.”
Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), a state agency, announced that the last stands of keruing paya (Dipterocarpus coriaceus) in Peninsular Malaysia were wiped out when Bikam Forest Reserve in Perak was cleared for oil palm plantations. The plantations were established after Bikam was de-gazetted, or re-zoned from a logging concession for conversion to oil palm. More than 450 hectares of forest were cleared.
Maketab Mohamed, president of the Malaysian Nature Society, told the New Straits Times that experts had warned about the risk of de-gazetting the permanent forest estate for oil palm. "It is indeed a shocking find but this phenomenon did not happen overnight," he was quoted as saying. "The extinction was caused by the act of the state which de-gazetted forest reserves for oil palm plantations over a long period of time."
http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0730-keruing-paya-extinction-palm-oil.html
Palm Oil Plantation Expansion And Liberia Land Grabs
A petition sent to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s office in January 2014, by the aggrieved people’s political representatives demands the return of their land. Malaysian company Sime Darby Plantations was granted a permit on 21 April 2010 to cultivate 10,000 hectares of palm oil in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount counties. Now, the company has applied for an additional 15,000 hectares for palm oil cultivation in Garwular and Gola Konneh districts, in the Grand Cape Mount County, and another 20,000 hectares in Gbarpolu County.
“Everybody made mistakes on this one,” she told villagers, “but the thing to do is to correct the mistakes. Now, something could have been done better when it comes to Sime Darby. More consultations and more talks with the people should have taken place.”
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told them that before the government signs an agreement, the legislature conducts public hearings so that views and objections can be raised before an agreement is concluded. The residents however, said they were unaware of any such hearings. Sirleaf said the government would now correct this oversight and seek the views of county residents. “I've come to start the process,” she said. “I came with the ministers of justice, internal affairs, labor, and agriculture because all of them have a part to play in the process.”
“Sirleaf also told residents of Grand Cape Mount County that when government, including legislators, signed documents with foreign companies or countries, these could not be changed. Most of those who lost their land have relocated to nearby villages and towns unaffected by the concession. Most are unskilled laborers.”
http://www.irinnews.org/report/94882/liberia-land-grab-or-development-opportunity
An independent impact assessment released (2013) by Reading University reveals that Sime Darby operations in Liberia could lead to a loss of biodiversity, food sources and livelihoods, leading to chronic poverty. There would also be significant environmental impacts with the loss of primary and secondary forest. Title: Palm Oil Land Rights And Ecosystem Services, the Impact Assessment is 12MB 53 pages, and the link to the PDF is at:
http://www.fern.org/palmoilandrightsinLiberia
Palm Oil Expansion Risk To Africa
Palm oil has long been produced in Africa on small-scale, diversified plantations. A report on palm oil, published last year by the NGO Grain, notes that tens of millions of people in Africa, most of them women, rely on this native tree for food and livelihoods. But the landscape is changing.
http://www.grain.org/article/categories/519-planet-palm-oil
"Investments in agriculture can benefit the poor, but the reality in Liberia is very different. Farmers are losing their land and livelihoods, the rights of those living in poverty in rural areas are being violated, and the forests on which communities depend are increasingly threatened. I see no guarantees that rural communities will benefit in any meaningful way from investments in palm oil."
http://www.foeeurope.org/european-investments-assist-land-grabs-palm-oil-Liberia-240613
Swaths of land have been allocated to foreign companies for oil palm plantations. Grain lists 66 deals (pdf) covering nearly 4m hectares over the past decade and a half.
http://www.grain.org/article/entries/5031-planet-palm-oil.pdf
Is there a 'Fair Trade' label for Palm Oil?
What of the Nutiva Brand Organic Red Palm Oil?
http://nutiva.com/nutiva-introduces-organic-red-palm-oil/
“By partnering with Natural Habitats in Ecuador we ensure that no deforestation or habitat destruction results from the growing or harvesting process. Nutiva is also promoting social programs in the area by building a small health clinic for the local doctor, and hiring a full-time soccer coach and providing uniforms for the local youth.” Natural Habitats is a group fully committed to the sustainable production of organic and fairly traded products.
http://natural-habitats.com/
BOYCOTT SE ASIAN PALM OIL ON the basis of human rights, and environmental destruction.
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Tomas DiFiore
Responsible Roundtables, Sustainable Standards, Sustainable Palm Oil, Indigenous land uses, deforestation-free, Liberia Land Grabs, Palm Oil Alternative
Did anyone really believe the 'Forest Heroes' campaign and the RSPO when they congratulated the world in October 2014? "Seventy-five percent of all palm oil will be produced responsibly, and it means that 75 percent of all the palm oil produced will be grown without cutting down rainforests.”
In a great article in the spring of 2014, the Huffington Post blasted the Zero-deforestation certification requirements established between industry and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The criteria state specifically that RSPO members must be "in compliance with all local and national laws." In the case of Indonesian policies, plantations would have to remove forests in order to comply with local laws!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-hii/breaking-the-law-in-indonesia_b_5240008.html
Six months later, in October, Forest Heroes and Palm Oil Industry leader IOI Loders Croklaan (Malaysia) shared celebratory press releases; “Congratulations to Forest Heroes, and IOI, and to the entire world! All the palm-oil companies who have signed on to the new responsibility commitments IOI, Wilmar International, Golden Agri-Resources, Cargill, and Bunge deserve a thumbs up.”
http://grist.org/food/palm-oil-giant-makes-big-commitment-rainforests-rejoice/
“Over three quarters of global palm oil now covered by deforestation-free sourcing policies.”
First off, who are the 'Forest Heroes'? Was someone misled?
It began as a program during the UN International Year of The Forests in 2011. The first two 'Forest Heroes' were two girls scouts. “Since age 11, Madison and Rhiannon have been raising awareness on endangered orangutans and their rapidly diminishing rainforest habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia. Now in their teens, the girls have expanded their work, launching multiple campaigns to ensure Girl Scout Cookies are made from sustainable resources. Their work prompted Girl Scouts USA to commit to improving sustainability of their cookies and boosted efforts to reduce deforestation for palm oil.” Their full story, an amazing one at that, can be found here:
http://www.un.org/en/events/iyof2011/forests-for-people/awards-and-contests/award-winners/
Two years year later, the private, professional, consulting organization Catapult (a consulting organization that “works for progress on the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges, through high-impact communications, advocacy, field organizing and political campaigning”) began it's program 'Forest Heroes' with a reasonable assessment of the Certification of Sustainable Palm Oil under the RSPO titled "The Death of Sustainability".
http://www.forestheroes.org/the_death_of_sustainability
Under Catapult, Forest Heroes was a campaign, not a group.
http://www.catapultaction.com/blog/
In June 2014, they began a highly visible campaign against Dunkin Brands - Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Creme, and others drawing attention to Palm Oil and deforestation donuts. In October, they announced “Congratulations to Forest Heroes, and IOI, and to the entire world! All the palm-oil companies who have signed on to the new responsibility commitments IOI, Wilmar International, Golden Agri-Resources, Cargill, and Bunge deserve a thumbs up.”
See the recent PR "How a small band of activists saved tropical forests by turning around Big Doughnut" Published Feb 4, 2015
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060012804
Commodity certification standards 'Responsible' and 'Sustainable' undermine organic, fair-trade, and local food systems. “Imagine an international mega-deal. The global organic food industry agrees to support international agribusiness in clearing as much tropical rainforest as they want for farming. In return, agribusiness agrees to farm the now-deforested land using organic methods, and the organic industry encourages its supporters to buy the resulting timber and food under the newly devised 'Rainforest Plus' label.”
Way Beyond Greenwashing - Have Corporations Captured “Big Conservation”?
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2012/0312latham.html
“The conservation nonprofits justify market transformation as cooperative; they wish to work with others, not against them. However, they have chosen to work preferentially with powerful and wealthy corporations. Why not cooperate instead with small farmers’ movements, indigenous groups, and already successful standards, such as fair-trade, organic and non-GMO?”
A Sampling Of Standards:
Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS); Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RTSB); Sugar (Bonsucro)
“The context of these schemes is that we live at an historic moment. Positive alternatives to industrial agriculture, such as fair trade, organic agriculture, agroecology, and the System of Rice Intensification, have shown they can feed the planet, without destroying it, even with a greater population. Consequently, there is now a substantial international consensus of informed opinion that industrial agriculture is a principal cause of the current environmental crisis and the chief obstacle to hunger eradication.”
“Who are the individuals guarding the mission of global conservation nonprofits? U.S.-WWF new vice-chair was the last CEO of Coca-Cola, Inc. (a member of Bonsucro) and that another board member is Charles O. Holliday Jr., the current chairman of the board of Bank of America, who was formerly CEO of DuPont (owner of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a major player in the GMO industry). The current chair of the executive board at Conservation International is Robert Walton, better known as chair of the board of WalMart (which now sells “sustainably sourced” food and owns the supermarket chain ASDA). On the board of Conservation International, for example, are GAP, Intel, Northrop Grumman, JP Morgan, Starbucks, and UPS, among others.”
“The RTRS standard will not protect the forests and other sensitive ecosystems. Additionally, it greenwashes soy that’s genetically modified to survive being sprayed with quantities of herbicide that endanger human health and the environment.” There is even a website dedicated to exposing the greenwashing of GMO soy.”
http://www.toxicsoy.org/
“The Nature Conservancy’s board of directors has only two members (out of 22) who list an active affiliation to a conservation organization in their board CV (Prof. Gretchen Daly and Cristian Samper, head of the U.S. Museum of Natural History). Only one other member even mentions among his qualifications an interest in the subject of conservation. The remaining members are like Shona Brown, who is an employee of Google and a board member of Pepsico, or Meg Whitman, the current president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, or Muneer A. Satter, a managing director of Goldman Sachs.”
“The only good news in this story is that it contradicts fundamentally the defeatist arguments of the WWF. Old-fashioned activist strategies, of shaming bad practice, boycotting products, and encouraging alternatives, do work. The market opportunity presently being exploited by WWF and company resulted from the success of these strategies, not their failure. Multinational corporations, we should conclude, really do fear activists, non-profits, informed consumers, and small producers all working together.” From: “Way Beyond Greenwashing - Have Corporations Captured Big Conservation?” By Jonathan Latham
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2012/03/05/way-beyond-greenwashing-have-corporations-captured-big-conservation
Original Article by Jonathan Latham, is 7 pages. , with a half page of extensive footnotes. Jonathan R. Latham, PhD, is co-founder and executive director of the Bioscience Resource Project, which is the publisher of Independent Science News. He has published scientific papers in disciplines as diverse as plant ecology, virology, and genetics. Visit http://www.independentsciencenews.org/
Palm Oil Crisis In Certification Criteria
Even the Union Of Concerned Scientists bases all non-deforestation 'sustainable criteria' for Palm Oil on the RSPO criteria. Which brings us to a certification requirement from the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) where its criteria state for it's members "There is compliance with all applicable local, national and ratified international laws and regulations” (Criterion 2.1). “Principles and Criteria for the Production of Sustainable Palm Oil 2013”
http://www.rspo.org/file/PnC_RSPO_Rev1.pdf
The link states Rev1 but the document is Rev2
(Criterion 2.1) There is compliance with all applicable local, national and ratified international laws and regulations.
Implementing all legal requirements is an essential baseline requirement for all growers whatever their location or size. Relevant legislation includes, but is not limited to: regulations governing land tenure and land-use rights, labour, agricultural practices (e.g. chemical use), environment (e.g. wildlife laws, pollution, environmental management and forestry laws), storage, transportation and processing practices. It also includes laws made pursuant to a country’s obligations under international laws or conventions (e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), ILO core Conventions, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights). Furthermore, where countries have provisions to respect customary law, these will be taken into account. Key international laws and conventions are set out in Annex 1.
(Criterion 2.2) The right to use the land is demonstrated, and is not legitimately contested by local people who can demonstrate that they have legal, customary or user rights.
(Criterion 2.3) Use of the land for oil palm does not diminish the legal, customary or user rights of other users without their free, prior and informed consent. (Known as FPIC, the reality on the ground falls far short of the stated intention.)
Annex 1 can be found on p. 64 of the 71 page document: “Principles and Criteria for the Production of Sustainable Palm Oil 2013”
Indigenous land uses and rights are acknowledged in different countries under different conditions of tenure and recorded history. Few countries acknowledge legal descriptions for access by indigenous cultures to heritage lands. Even fewer have GPS coordinates defining legal boundaries of indigenous community-use lands. Terms like 'Conflict-free' are ill defined given the context of corruption, shifting land use designations, and occupation in the recent expansionist history of Palm Oil Plantations.
Terms like 'deforestation-free', and 'protect natural forests from conversion' have several possible definitions, and potential impacts per country and location. No 'Plantation expansion' or 'new plantation development' also have at least two meanings in both Indonesia and Malaysia, the number one and two countries of production for Palm Oil (CPO, Crude Palm Oil). The legal definition can be used to expand a current legal concession into idle land and undeveloped forest landscapes in Indonesia, and the new “smallholder' and 'Plasma' designations, expand the plantation by an additional 20 per cent outside the 'plantation boundaries' for smallholders for the purposes of planting with palm oil (National Law).
Malaysia, though a member of the UN, has not signed onto any Human Rights accords, and in fact, has rejected any UN Indigenous Rights proposal regarding palm plantations, the latest in March 2014 (International Law). And thus, the key phrasing of the certification criteria states “applicable or relevant National and International laws”.
Notably, the UCS advances as it's similarly amenable 'certification criteria', that:
Companies must commit to a palm oil sourcing policy for all of their global operations that ensures 100 percent of their palm oil purchases:
• Are deforestation-free and protect all natural forests (including primary forests, secondary forests, High Conservation Value forests, and High Carbon Stock forests) from conversion due to plantation expansion or new plantation development
• Originate from growers that protect peatlands of any depth from new plantation development
• Originate from growers using best management practices (for example, those prescribed by the RSPO) for oil palm plantations on existing peat soils
• Originate from growers that comply with all relevant local, national, and international laws
• Originate from growers that track and report on the carbon footprint of their production
• Are conflict-free and protective of the rights of workers and indigenous communities
• Are compliant with existing RSPO Principles and Criteria, or equivalent standards
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/stop-deforestation/palm-oil-scorecard.html#.VOYNVra56X0
Palm Oil Scorecard: Ranking America’s Biggest Brands on Their Commitment to Deforestation-Free Palm Oil (2014) From Union Of Concerned Scientists
Full Report:
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/deforestation-free-palm-oil-scorecard.pdf
Palm Oil And Tropical Deforestation:
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/stop-deforestation/palm-oil-and-forests.html#.VOYqIba56X0
Palm Oil Facts:
http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global_warming/palm-oil-and-global-warming.pdf
Palm Oil Scorecard On Human Rights Abuses: Malaysia Ranks Number One
Malaysia – both the Malaysian government and Malaysian Corporations would rank number one globally for human rights abuses and palm oil plantation expansion. And to be clearly transparent: Malaysia is not a developing country.
Malaysia Is Not A Developing Country
For the most part, poor countries are poor because of international debt, and foreign industrial extraction of natural resources. In some cases, the foreign extraction of human resources. The 'poor' will do well to be on their own, and need to be technologically self reliant, as public benefits of natural resource production are drowned in contaminated surface waters, bays, and aquifers, or, are mostly lost in a toxic fog of unknown constituents.
Malaysia is a country that is being developed by national and foreign corporations. Malaysia is the SE Asia hub for oil and gas. It's offshore resources and leased tracts and rig platforms, serve Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia (Borneo). Much of Malaysia's oil and gas industry is located offshore of Sarawak and Sabah (Borneo) also known as East Malaysia.
PIC
See my article on the contested B.C. LNG Pipeline Export terminal
Pacific NorthWest LNG - North American LNG Exports - B.C. Won't Even Get The Jobs
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/12/05/18765078.php
Petronas (Malaysia) will focus in 2015 on selecting the winning bid for a crucial phase called engineering, procurement, construction and commission. Pacific NorthWest LNG received clearance last month from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, but the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is the lead regulator on the file, and the project might be waiting until mid-2015 for federal approval.
Who is Petronas? The Malaysian State-owned oil and gas company, ranked worst according to Management and Excellence (Madrid, Spain) corporate social responsibility indexes. On average, most companies scored highest under "ethics" with an average of 73.3%. Ethics simply means having and promoting a detailed code of conduct and staying out of trouble.
Companies with low scores, such as Gazprom and Petronas, largely failed to communicate or even implement a code of conduct and ethics, although this is among the least expensive ways of gaining points. Top performers such as Chevron, Statoil and Total, implemented codes explaining how employees should deal with difficult cases of bribery and conflicts of interest.
Investments In Development News From Malaysia
40 organizations call on the President of the Asian Development Bank to withdraw a proposed loan to Sarawak Energy for a transmission line.
http://staging.world-wire.com/2014/10/15/asian-development-bank-urged-to-shelve-loan-for-sarawak/
SARAWAK, Malaysia, October 15, 2014 Environmental and human rights groups from Malaysia and internationally are calling on the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to shelve a proposal to loan up to US$45 million for building the “Trans-Borneo Power Grid” (transmission lines) in Sarawak, Malaysia. 40 organizations have issued a letter to the President of the ADB, Mr. Takehiko Nakao, and the bank’s board of directors warning them of the reputational and financial risks associated with the loan.
In the Spring of 2014 Malaysia rejected a suggestion at the United Nations that the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights should be allowed to visit the country and evaluate the treatment of the Orang Ulu.
Malaysia Rejects Indigenous Rights At The UN
Malaysia has rejected a suggestion at the United Nations that the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights should be allowed to visit the country and evaluate the treatment of the Orang Ulu.
This was one of many recommendations which Malaysia has rejected since its Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations in October. The UPR is a process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. It provides an opportunity for all States to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries.
In an appalling response regarding the rights of Malaysia’s indigenous communities, the Malaysian Government has rejected the following recommendations made by the Governments of Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Allow for the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples (Denmark);
Ensure that laws on indigenous peoples as well as their implementation comply with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Switzerland);
Ensure the rights of indigenous peoples and local forest dependent peoples in law and practice, in particular regarding their right to traditional lands, territories and resources (Norway);
Establish an independent National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and ensure that laws, policies and their implementations are in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Sweden);
Establish an independent body to investigate disputes over land, territories and resources (New Zealand);
Take measures, with full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, to address the issues highlighted in the National Enquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Finland).
The Malaysian Government have stated that they will not comply with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples or ensure that Native Customary Rights (NCR) are protected.
Malaysia has rejected Human Rights recommendations by member countries of the UN, of which Malaysia is a member, for 5 years in a row now.
Malaysia, Developing Country Resource Assets
The future of drilling is headed offshore of 'poorer' developing countries to the carbonate resources. Petronas, TotalAlFina, Sinopec, and a couple others, these are conglomerates bigger than the Western oil companies, moving the oil and gas globally with fleets of FLNG Tankers, and distribution pipelines across the seafloor. They are also State owned companies run by governments in places like Malaysia - with horrible environmental and human rights abuses track records. Malaysia and China have partnered with Canadian and US companies on North America and now own drilling rights, and access to mineral rights to huge swaths of unconventional oil and gas development in Canada, the continental United States, and the Gulf Of Mexico.
Carbon Offsets Cannot Clean Up Human Rights Abuses
Going back in time to 1971, Several factors converged to prompt the Malaysian government into setting up a state oil and gas company, as first proposed in its Five Year Plan. These were years in which power in the world oil industry began to shift away from the Western majors, which then controlled more than 90 percent of the oil trade, toward the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as a proliferation of new private and state companies joining in the search for reserves. By 1985, the majors, reduced in number from seven to five, were producing less than 20 percent of the world total.
A whole new group of oil and gas companies have become today's Titans. The "New Seven Sisters" selected recently by the Financial Times (FT) highlights how largely state-owned companies from the emerging world have become key global players in oil and gas. The FT ranked the New Seven Sisters on the basis of resource base, level of output, company's ambition, scale of their domestic market, and influence in the industry. In order of prominence, they are Saudi Aramco, Russia's Gazprom, CNPC of China, NIOC of Iran, Venezuela's PDVSA, Brazil's Petrobras and Petronas of Malaysia.
The New Seven Sisters control about one-third of the world's oil and gas production and reserves. In contrast, remaining descendants of the Western Seven Sisters, ExxonMobil and Chevron of the U.S. and Europe's BP and Royal Dutch Shell, produce only about 10% of the world's oil and gas and hold just 3% of its reserves.
And if anything, the New Seven Sisters are set to grow even more powerful. The International Energy Agency (IEA) calculates that over the next 40 years, 90% of new supplies will come from 'developing' countries.
Beware of Global Climate Funds, Climate Investment Funds, and Investments In Developing Economies And Renewables, and especially Palm Oil Biofuel.
Investments In Developing Economies Renewables, Clean Energy
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/11/07/18763887.php
Friday Nov 7th, 2014
Half A World Away
The Development Of Unconventional Hydrocarbons In The US and Canada - Alberta, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Texas, the (GOM) Gulf of Mexico - by foreign dictatorial regime-owned corporations in 2014 and beyond.
The Last Flag Flying Over The Last Borehole Wins
April 30, 2014 - Malaysia's Petronas Sells Stake In Canada Gas Project To Sinopec
http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/news/breaking-news/malaysias-petronas-sells-stake-in-canada-gas-project-to-sinopec
Petronas, a Malaysian state-owned oil firm plans to build an $11 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on Canada's Pacific Coast partnering with China's Sinopec Group and a Chinese state utility. Petronas said it will sell state-owned Sinopec Group, formally known as China Petrochemical Corp, a 15 percent stake in its Pacific NorthWest LNG export facility, along with a 15 percent stake in the northern British Columbia shale gas assets for feedstock.
“Sinopec is Petronas's fourth partner in the project, which is one of about a dozen LNG terminals proposed for British Columbia's rugged coastline as energy companies scramble to build facilities to export cheap Canadian gas to Asian markets.”
“Petronas, which entered the fray in 2012 with its $4.7 billion takeover of Canada's Progress Energy Resources, has moved quickly past its rivals in LNG. The company has so far secured an export permit and filed its key environmental documents.”
That was in the spring, 2014. By autumn 2014 these regimes and corporations had received a huge tax incentive from the BC government regarding LNG export projects. “Developers led by Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group and Petronas, as the Malaysian state-owned crude producer is known, have pushed for better terms to invest in Canada’s Pacific Coast as they compete with other Asia-focused LNG projects in the U.S., Mozambique and Australia.”
Malaysia's Offshore Oil And Gas
“Infield Systems forecasts that Malaysia will lead the South East Asian region for offshore investment over the 2014-2019 timeframe holding a 36% share of regional Capex. State operator Petronas is expected to bring on-stream a total of 31 fields during the period, with a further 11 fields to be developed through the NOC’s joint ventures with foreign companies. As such, Petronas is also expected to lead investment during these years with a 48% share of the market, whilst Shell, Murphy and ExxonMobil are all expected to direct substantial Capex towards Malaysian assets during the period. Despite being predominantly a shallow water area of development, Infield Systems expects deepwater investment to also increase towards the end of the decade, with 19% of reserve additions during the 2014-2019 period expected to be from water depths of 500 metres or greater.”
“Altogether, Malaysia is expected to hold 44% of the South East Asian region’s reserve additions during the 2014-2019 timeframe with 10.8bn barrels of oil equivalent expected to be brought on-stream. Significant fields forecast to enter production include the development of Petronas’ Sarawak and Kasawari fields, and whilst NOC Petronas is expected to bring on-stream the largest overall volumes of reserves during the period, IOC Shell is expected to lead deepwater development with the Kamunsu East Upthrow/Canyon and the Ubah fields forecast to commence production before the close of 2019.”
http://www.infield.com/advertising-opportunities/offshore-malaysia-oil-gas-activity-map
Subsea Asia 2014 took place at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) in Malaysia and will be Asia's 4th SUBSEA Conference and Exhibition. With a number of major projects currently underway, Malaysia continues to strengthen its position as the region's hub for subsea knowledge and excellence. In its thriving capital city, Kuala Lumpur, many of the world's leading oil companies have already set up their regional bases, creating the natural platform for an international event dedicated to Asia-Pacific's subsea community.
In recent years the importance of oil and gas reserves from deepwater areas has also increased significantly. In the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia is at the forefront of this development with its National Oil Company, PETRONAS, committed to exploring offshore areas, especially deepwater zones that require substantial technical expertise. Subsea UK's Subsea Asia conference and exhibition brings together industry professionals to discuss the region's subsea sector's projects, technologies and markets.
http://www.infield.com/exhibitions/subsea-asia
June 2-4, 2015
Oil and Gas Asia (OGA 2015) is Asia’s largest oil and gas industry event and has been held biannually since 1987. OGA 2015 will offer the chance for all professional members of the oil and gas community to meet for a three day exhibition to discuss opportunities, exchange ideas and network. Oil and Gas Asia 2015 is being held from 2 – 4 June in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia.
http://www.infield.com/exhibitions/oga-oil-gas-asia
According to the Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ), Malaysia held proven oil reserves of 4 billion barrels as of January 2011. Nearly all of Malaysia's oil comes from offshore fields. The continental shelf is divided into 3 producing basins: the Malay basin offshore peninsular Malaysia in the west and the Sarawak and Sabah basins in the east.
The government is focused on opening up new investment opportunities by enhancing output from existing fields and developing new fields in deepwater areas offshore Sarawak and Sabah.
“ExxonMobil's has an enhanced oil recovery project at the Tapis field, which lies 118 miles off Terengganu in 210 feet of water. Tapis is one of 7 mature fields offshore peninsular Malaysia that ExxonMobil and Petronas have agreed to develop as part of a 25-year production-sharing contract that was finalized in June 2010. Under the agreement, which includes provisions for the deployment of enhanced oil recovery and further drilling to boost output, work is being carried out on all 7 fields - Seligi, Guntong, Tapis, Semangkok, Irong Barat, Tebu, and Palas - with an estimated gross investment of more than $1 billion.”
“The Commercial Arrangement Area (CAA) in the Malay Basin, which Malaysia shares with Vietnam, also contributes to the country's oil production, and the 20-year dispute between Malaysia and Brunei over land and sea boundaries was resolved when the two countries signed a boundary agreement in April 2009.”
New Deepwater Oil Production Projects Under Development Are All Offshore Sabah/Borneo
“The Kikeh oil field is currently Malaysia's only producing deepwater oil field. Kikeh is offshore Sabah in 4,400 feet of water. Offshore Sabah in 3,900 feet of water, the Gumusat/Kakap project will include the region's first deepwater floating production system from 19 subsea wells. Shareholders are Shell, the operator, at 33 percent; ConocoPhillips at 33 percent; Petronas at 20 percent; and Murphy Oil at 14 percent. The system is connected via pipelines to the new Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal in Kimanis.”
“Development is also underway at the Kebabangan Northern Hub development project (KBB), about 87 miles northeast of Kimanis which will be the hub for the development of deepwater oil and gas assets offshore Sabah.”
“The Malikai oil and gas field is located nearby and will be tied into the KBB via liquids and dry gas pipelines shortly after first gas comes from KBB. It will supply the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal. The field was discovered in 2004 at 1,854 feet depth and field development began in 2009. Malakai is expected to come online by 2014, with production capacity of 60,000 bbl/d. Shell is the operator, with 35 percent interest; in partnership with ConocoPhillips, at 35 percent; and Petronas, with 30 percent.”
Malaysia has a relatively limited oil pipeline network because of its island geography, which has increased the importance of tankers for transportation and trucks for distribution of products onshore. Malaysia's main oil pipelines connect oil fields offshore Peninsular Malaysia to onshore storage and terminal facilities. “From the Tapis oil field runs the 124-mile Tapis pipeline, which terminates at the Kerteh plant in Terengganu, as does the 145-mile Jerneh condensate pipeline. The oil pipeline network for Sabah connects offshore oil fields with the onshore Labuan oil terminal. This network is currently expanding following the launch of development projects including the Kebabangan cluster, the Malikai, Gemusat/Kekap, and Kikeh oil fields. For Sarawak, there are a few other oil pipelines connecting offshore fields with the onshore Bintulu terminal. The majority of pipelines are operated by Petronas, although ExxonMobil also operates a number of pipelines connected with its significant upstream holdings located offshore Peninsular Malaysia.”
“The Tapis blend is Malaysia's major exported crude oil because its high quality and low sulfur content commands premium prices.”
Malaysia Has One Of The Most Extensive Natural Gas Pipeline Networks In Asia
The Peninsular Gas Utilization (PGU) project, completed in 1998, expanded the natural gas transmission infrastructure on Peninsular Malaysia. The PGU system spans more than 880 miles and has the capacity to transport 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas. Other gas pipelines run from offshore gas fields to gas processing facilities at Kertih.”
“A number of pipelines link Sarawak's offshore gas fields to the Bintulu facility. Petronas is building the 310-mile Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline to transport gas from Sabah's offshore fields to Bintulu for liquefaction and export. Some of the gas will be used for downstream projects in Sabah. This pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of 2013. Other pipelines link the gas fields offshore Sabah to Labuan Gas Terminal.”
“The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is promoting the development of a trans-ASEAN gas pipeline system (TACP) aimed at linking ASEAN's major gas production and consumption centers by 2020. Because of Malaysia's extensive natural gas infrastructure and its location, the country is a natural candidate to serve as a hub in the ongoing TACP project. The first pipeline connected Malaysia with Singapore and was commissioned in 1991. This was followed by gas pipeline links between West Natuna, Indonesia and Duyong, Malaysia, commissioned in 2002, and the Trans-Thailand-Malaysia gas pipeline, commissioned in 2005, which allows Malaysia to pipe natural gas from the Malaysia-Thailand JDA to its domestic pipeline system.”
“Malaysia was the third largest exporter of LNG in the world after Qatar and Indonesia in 2010, exporting over 1 Tcf of LNG, which accounted for 10 percent of total world LNG exports. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China have supply contracts with Malaysia, and are the largest purchasers. LNG is primarily transported by Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (MISC), which owns and operates 27 LNG tankers, the single largest LNG tanker fleet in the world by volume of LNG carried. MISC is 62-percent owned by Petronas.”
“The Bintulu LNG complex on Sarawak is the main hub for Malaysia's natural gas industry. Petronas owns majority interests in Bintulu's three LNG processing plants, which are supplied by offshore natural gas fields. The Bintulu facility is the largest LNG complex in the world, with 8 production trains and a total liquefaction capacity of 1.7 Tcf per year.”
“In the news from Singapore, with a final investment off shore in April 2014; Murphy, Petronas got the action for a Malaysia FLNG project 2018.”
“A final investment decision for the floating LNG liquefaction project at the Rotan field in Malaysia has been reached, and it is on track to achieving first gas by 2018, US company Murphy Oil, headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas said Thursday during a presentation to discuss its 2013 financial results.”
“Murphy operates Block H offshore Sabah, where the gas will be sourced, while Malaysia's state-owned Petronas will operate the 1.5 million mt/year FLNG facility. This will be Petronas' second FLNG plant in Malaysia, after it reached an FID in 2012 on a 1.2 million mt/year plant at the Kanowit field offshore Sarawak.”
“Once onstream, the two FLNG plants will take Malaysia's total LNG production to 28.9 million mt/year, Arif Mahmood, Petronas' vice-president for corporate and strategic planning, had said in June 2013. The LNG produced from the FLNG plants could be sold in the domestic market or overseas.”
According To RIGZONE;
Sept 30, 2014 (Reuters) - “U.S. oil company Murphy Oil Corp said it would sell 30 percent of its oil and gas assets in Malaysia for $2 billion in cash to Indonesian state-oil company Pertamina as it cuts overseas holdings to focus on an improving home market.”
“The transaction is subject to the approval of Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas company, Petronas, Murphy Oil said in a statement. "This transaction allows us to re-deploy the proceeds through ... initiatives such as increased drilling capital in the Eagle Ford Shale, acquisition opportunities, debt reduction and share repurchases," Chief Executive Roger Jenkins said in a statement.”
SO, WE SEE, WE'RE ALL CONNECTED
But over here in the US, we still have to listen to NPR Politicians tell us that US LNG exports could help countries curb emissions. They have their own game plan. They don't need our natural gas. SE Asia offshore development boasts the largest networks of undersea pipelines, hubs and advanced deepwater technology, fleets of FLNG ships and floating refineries for oil.
Eco-tourism destinations are deemed a green economy, except for the multi-billion dollar investments in shoreline hotels, and the power to run them, to heat them, to heat water and cook extravagant foods, and development projects for infrastructure to support inland resorts and airports and runways, the paved roads, electricity. But Malaysia, like Indonesia has a palm oil biodiesel mandate, and a new global push for land grabs.
The poor remain poor. The indigenous, dispossessed of land. The pace of development has quickened beyond any destruction previously known. It's a global market economy.
Back on Peneninsular Malaysia The Last Rainforest Tree Was Cut
On Penisular Malaysia, in early 2013, the “Last Rainforest Tree” was cut. Well, not THE LAST RAINFOREST TREE, but “Oil palm plantations have extinguished the last habitat of a rainforest tree in Malaysia.”
Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), a state agency, announced that the last stands of keruing paya (Dipterocarpus coriaceus) in Peninsular Malaysia were wiped out when Bikam Forest Reserve in Perak was cleared for oil palm plantations. The plantations were established after Bikam was de-gazetted, or re-zoned from a logging concession for conversion to oil palm. More than 450 hectares of forest were cleared.
Maketab Mohamed, president of the Malaysian Nature Society, told the New Straits Times that experts had warned about the risk of de-gazetting the permanent forest estate for oil palm. "It is indeed a shocking find but this phenomenon did not happen overnight," he was quoted as saying. "The extinction was caused by the act of the state which de-gazetted forest reserves for oil palm plantations over a long period of time."
http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0730-keruing-paya-extinction-palm-oil.html
Palm Oil Plantation Expansion And Liberia Land Grabs
A petition sent to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s office in January 2014, by the aggrieved people’s political representatives demands the return of their land. Malaysian company Sime Darby Plantations was granted a permit on 21 April 2010 to cultivate 10,000 hectares of palm oil in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount counties. Now, the company has applied for an additional 15,000 hectares for palm oil cultivation in Garwular and Gola Konneh districts, in the Grand Cape Mount County, and another 20,000 hectares in Gbarpolu County.
“Everybody made mistakes on this one,” she told villagers, “but the thing to do is to correct the mistakes. Now, something could have been done better when it comes to Sime Darby. More consultations and more talks with the people should have taken place.”
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told them that before the government signs an agreement, the legislature conducts public hearings so that views and objections can be raised before an agreement is concluded. The residents however, said they were unaware of any such hearings. Sirleaf said the government would now correct this oversight and seek the views of county residents. “I've come to start the process,” she said. “I came with the ministers of justice, internal affairs, labor, and agriculture because all of them have a part to play in the process.”
“Sirleaf also told residents of Grand Cape Mount County that when government, including legislators, signed documents with foreign companies or countries, these could not be changed. Most of those who lost their land have relocated to nearby villages and towns unaffected by the concession. Most are unskilled laborers.”
http://www.irinnews.org/report/94882/liberia-land-grab-or-development-opportunity
An independent impact assessment released (2013) by Reading University reveals that Sime Darby operations in Liberia could lead to a loss of biodiversity, food sources and livelihoods, leading to chronic poverty. There would also be significant environmental impacts with the loss of primary and secondary forest. Title: Palm Oil Land Rights And Ecosystem Services, the Impact Assessment is 12MB 53 pages, and the link to the PDF is at:
http://www.fern.org/palmoilandrightsinLiberia
Palm Oil Expansion Risk To Africa
Palm oil has long been produced in Africa on small-scale, diversified plantations. A report on palm oil, published last year by the NGO Grain, notes that tens of millions of people in Africa, most of them women, rely on this native tree for food and livelihoods. But the landscape is changing.
http://www.grain.org/article/categories/519-planet-palm-oil
"Investments in agriculture can benefit the poor, but the reality in Liberia is very different. Farmers are losing their land and livelihoods, the rights of those living in poverty in rural areas are being violated, and the forests on which communities depend are increasingly threatened. I see no guarantees that rural communities will benefit in any meaningful way from investments in palm oil."
http://www.foeeurope.org/european-investments-assist-land-grabs-palm-oil-Liberia-240613
Swaths of land have been allocated to foreign companies for oil palm plantations. Grain lists 66 deals (pdf) covering nearly 4m hectares over the past decade and a half.
http://www.grain.org/article/entries/5031-planet-palm-oil.pdf
Is there a 'Fair Trade' label for Palm Oil?
What of the Nutiva Brand Organic Red Palm Oil?
http://nutiva.com/nutiva-introduces-organic-red-palm-oil/
“By partnering with Natural Habitats in Ecuador we ensure that no deforestation or habitat destruction results from the growing or harvesting process. Nutiva is also promoting social programs in the area by building a small health clinic for the local doctor, and hiring a full-time soccer coach and providing uniforms for the local youth.” Natural Habitats is a group fully committed to the sustainable production of organic and fairly traded products.
http://natural-habitats.com/
BOYCOTT SE ASIAN PALM OIL ON the basis of human rights, and environmental destruction.
By invoking the 'Copyright Disclaimer' Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights- Fair use: Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
If you or anyone wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Tomas DiFiore
Responsible Roundtables, Sustainable Standards, Sustainable Palm Oil, Indigenous land uses, deforestation-free, Liberia Land Grabs, Palm Oil Alternative
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